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Space Shifting DVDs to Cost Extra?
Depending on who you listen to Steve Jobs has supposedly been pitching the idea of selling "premium" DVDs that would include an extra fee for the privilege of transferring your legally-purchased DVD to a different device. "The courts have held that "space-shifting" your CDs to a portable music device is a fair use. So you can legally import your CD collection to your iPod, or any other device, without paying a penny. But Steve Jobs apparently wants to charge you $4 for the privilege of doing the same with your DVDs."
... I need to buy Slysoft's ripping software: http://www.slysoft.com/. Y'all can take your premium DVDs and shove it. I'd rather pay someone more for tools to protect my property than pay less in extortion money.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
But only if they change that retarded name - "Space-shifting"? Back in the day, we used to call it "moving files".
Doesn't always work. Try it with Pirates of the Caribbean 2...won't work. Sony did something weird like putting in bad sectors on purpose that blow up bit for bit copying....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
The only mentions of Jobs or Apple in the NYT article are: "Disney, of which Steve Jobs is a director and large shareholder, sells movies through the iTunes Store, and the other major studios don't. The issue has been that the studios want to charge more money for downloads than Mr. Jobs thinks they are worth." and "Apple has relented and has agreed to a higher wholesale price for movies."
The following paragraph continues, "More interestingly perhaps, the studios are hoping to create "premium" versions of DVDs that include a copy of the movie that can easily be put on an iPod (and presumably a laptop with iTunes or an Apple TV). Fox has tried this already, with a version of "Die Hard 4 that includes a digital copy. Mr. Greenfield writes that this version costs $3 or $4 more than an ordinary DVD."
This paragraph doesn't refer to Jobs at all, but rather to a DVD that Fox released.
I'm missing the connection between Apple and Fox that Tim Lee's seeing. Can someone explain where this is hiding?
from DVD Player's help file..
...
Authorizing DVD's
When parental controls are enabled, the computer administrator must authorize a DVD before it can be played.
to remove authorization, insert the DVD and choose Features > Deauthorize Media. Then either quit DVD Player or insert another disk to complete deauthorization.
So yeah, its all about Parental Controls sadly
-We think in generalities but live in details.
All iPods have the same specs for the video they play... Presumably the iPod version of the video from the DVD would conform to the same standards as videos from the iTunes store. Your questions about various iPods and the AppleTV apply just as much to the iTunes video store as they would to these hypothetical DVDs, so I wouldn't think that your questions really pose a problem for this concept. Of course, the AppleTV is supposed to be HD-capable, so that could represent a good question here, but Apple doesn't give you a way to get HD content for it, other than some sample podcasts, at least that's all I've heard about it.
Personally, I think it's dumb that they would sell this for a 20% price increase to "let" you have a "legal" way to get videos to your iPod. I use HandBrake all the time (which the author of TFA incorrectly identifies as violating the DMCA... it doesn't violate it because it doesn't have any way on its own to handle CSS decryption... you need an external program/driver/library for that), and in a decent world, it would be perfectly easy for anyone to use it to put their movies on their portable players. But these companies step in and act like they're freaking awesome, because they've given us a legal way to do this.
If someone wants to pay $4 to make it easier to copy their DVDs, and they think the hassle is worth the price, then good for them. But I would hate to see people paying that extortion money because the content providers are pretending that it's the only way to get it legally.
Apple doesn't charge for ringtones, it collect royalties demanded by the RIAA. Apple's success makes it among the most sued companies on the planet. It can't violate RIAA demands and distribute RIAA content on a whim to entertain consumers. What other content companies are giving away ringtones?
Oh right, Verizon and Sprint and AT&T are selling them for $3 or more, and then delete them after a few months and make you pay again!
Apple charges users $1 to convert their purchased tracks into a custom made ringtone that Apple can't delete or expire. You are out of touch with reality. If you want free content, make it yourself, and then copy it onto your phone yourself. Nobody is forcing you to use commercial music and slick consumer products.
Apple's iTunes Ringtones and Complex World of Copyright Law
From DVD Player Help:
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Authorizing DVDs
When parental controls are enabled, the computer administrator must authorize a DVD before it can be played.
To authorize DVDs (if you are the administrator):
Select how you want to authorize the DVD:
To allow the movie to be played this time only, and then to require an administrator name and password every subsequent time, click Play Once.
To allow the movie to be played this time and every subsequent time without requiring an administrator name and password, click Always Allow.
Type the administrator name and password.
To remove authorization, insert the DVD and choose Features > Deauthorize Media. Then either quit DVD Player or insert another disk to complete deauthorization.
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you need to read the NYTimes article that the Techdirt article is based on. This entire Slashdot article is based on a misrepresentation of an innocuous NYTimes article. Apple isn't the one trying to increase the prices of DVDs or media downloads, it's the studios trying to create more expensive DVD's to make >$15 downloads seem like a deal.
Bureaucracy expands to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.-Oscar Wilde
Mencoder will do DVD ripping and any type of encoding imaginable, and you can just unextract the binaries instead of installing. All you need is some command-line know-how. Just thought I'd let you know.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
The thing I've never gotten is why no DVD producers have already adopted this practice. They're all about value-add with piles of special features and such; why not stick an iTunes compatible file on the DVD and throw the iPod logo on there?
You know, if one reads the actual article where the TFA got its facts from wrong...
You'll notice that this "premium DVD" talk actually is based on the Die Hard 4 DVD, which "is also the first ever to include an electronic copy of the film which can be played on a computer and that also be imported into several models portable of video players" and "costs $3 or $4 more than an ordinary DVD." And has nothing to do with Steve Jobs whatsoever.
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck